Building a Successful Family Business

Treat your business like a business and your family like a family.

That advice, shared with hundreds of industry professionals Feb. 7, was the core of Ira Bryck’s educational presentation at New England Grows at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Bryck is director of the UMASS Amherst Family Business Center in Amherst, Mass.

Approximately 90 percent of all U.S. jobs are connected to family-run businesses, Bryck explained. And roughly one-third of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies are operated by families. Based on those statistics, he asserted, all working Americans – including lawn care professionals – should understand a few key concepts relative to the increasingly common overlap of family life and business deals.

First, Bryck urged listeners to recognize the intrinsic difference between business relationships and familial ties. Relations within a company structure should be unemotional, task-based and guided by defined roles and designated authority, he said. In contrast, blood-bound relationships often are emotional, lifetime ties founded on caring and sharing.

Distinguishing between those relationships can be difficult for family members who find themselves swinging between personal and professional roles on a daily basis. To deal with that unpredictable yo-yo effect, Bryck urged family businesses to develop open communication and define expectations clearly.

Bryck also advised family-run businesses to be mindful of employees who are not bound to the company by blood. Often, there is a feeling of jealousy among those who feel left out of the loop because they are not part of the clan. Also, family members may feel a sense of entitlement or leeway for misbehavior, which can create and accentuate poor internal relations for a company. Bryck noted that a recent study found theft was more common among employees with familial ties to their jobs than those not tied to a company by blood.

Bryck’s solution: “Family members need to be twice as great to get half the credit.” At least, that’s what many family-run business executives insist.

According to recent research, only two-thirds of family-owned businesses survive beyond their first years of life. Generally speaking, this highly morbid death rate is the result of various conflicts, Bryck observed.

For instance, some family-run operations go under because of quarrels over leadership. Specifically, sometimes lack of discussion over passing the baton of authority is enough to break up a family business. Bryck explained the common struggle of aged company owners and business executives who can’t let go of their titles and positions, despite deteriorating health and weakened decision-making abilities. “You’re not what you do for a living,” he reminded. “But unfortunately many don’t want to let go – to pass the company on to the next generation.”

Quarrels over finances and salaries also are common, Bryck claimed. Often there is a tendency among siblings to assume those who are paid the most are favored by parents.
 
Another common struggle is the unrealistic loyalty many family-business employees feel – to jobs they don’t even enjoy. “Leave if you don’t like it there,” Bryck said to those in such circumstances. “Life is very short. If you hate it, close the chapter.”

For more information about operating a successful family-run business, visit the UMass Family Business Center.

The author is assistant editor-Internet of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at aanderson@lawnandlandscape.com.